


Red Moon Over New York

by brainfartsbyme



Category: Glee, khbb, kurt big bang, kurt hummel - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Vampire!Kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:32:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1338871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainfartsbyme/pseuds/brainfartsbyme





	Red Moon Over New York

Beta: vampireisabitstrong

Artist: mistysigh

Word count: 21035

Rating : T

Warnings: this is not happy love story, Vampires drinking blood, character death. There are minor guest appearances of male genitalia, but nothing graphic. Sebastian being Sebastian and mild horror. I think that is all. No actual couples, just Kurtbastian friends and Klaine friends but i guess one could look deeper into the Klaine.

Summary: a genetic mutated disease turns kurt into a vampire. This is his side of the story. Beginning in the dream world where he has to make the choice of becoming predator, craven or natural. Following him through learning to life with himself .

 

This story is my baby and is based on Billie Sue Mosiman's Vampire Nation Series (RED MOON RISING, MALACHI'S MOON, CRAVEN MOON). It is the first time that I tried something like this, and I cannot believe that I finished it. 

I need to send out some thank yous to my amazing beta that worked fast, and helped me understand what I was doing. Without vampireisabitstrong, I wouldn't have finished it. 

Thank you to mistysigh for her amazeballs art. Too bad I wasn't fast enough with the writing - I am sure you would have had more fun if I was faster and you had more to work with.

Last but not least, and most importantly, I need to thank Billie Sue Mosiman for allowing me to put Kurt and his friends in her world. I need everybody to go and read her books. They are great, and they are the first books I read in English and finished.

Of course, the rights to every recognizable character from her worlds or the traits belong to her as well, as all Glee folks belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. I own nothing but two OCs in here, and way too many shoes.

 

Red Moon Over New York

 

Trembling in pain and shivering from the cold sweat that covered his body, Kurt lay in his bed. There was no denying it - the fever had gotten him, too. He tried to called out to his father, but his throat was dried out. With all the strength he could summon, he raised his hand to knock over the lamp on his nightstand, hoping the loud noise of the antique hand-carved wooden base and its hand-crafted colored glass shade hitting the tiled floor of his room would be loud enough to alert his father to come and check on him. As he watched it tip over, the world around him began to darken. In the distance, seemingly far away, he heard a crash. He could only hope it was his lamp, and that his father would be there with him to help him through this.

*

Kurt was not scared of the dreamworld he found himself in. His mother had explained this part. He knew he would have to make a decision tonight. He would have to choose how he was going to live his life, until the world either no longer exists, or someone or something kills him. He would have three choices, three paths he could take, and each one seemed just as unappealing.

He stood in a dark forest, dressed in the sweatpants and t-shirt he went to bed in, looking up at the moon slowly turning red above his head. It was something Kurt had hoped he never had to see. Facing the red moon, the forest, and talking to the Mentor were part of a change he had wanted never to go through. 

The clearing Kurt found himself standing in was shaped like a circle, the grass dead below his feet. The only noise was the wind howling through the branches; otherwise, it was creepily silent. Trees surrounded the patch of sadness he was trapped on, building a black wall with shadows creeping in and out, but never did one of these shadows dare to approach him. 

Kurt had sat down on the ground, still staring up into the sky, wondering how long it would take. 

Would he feel anything? 

The cold shivers were gone, and his fever seemed to have disappeared. 

Would his dying body make it through? 

Was his dad by his bed yet? 

Was Burt holding his hand right at this moment? 

Kurt looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers to grip onto nothing, remembering the days he spent at the hospital after the heart attack. How much did he wish back then that he could have helped his dad? Now, wondering if his dad felt the same way, tears welled up in his eyes. Kurt wiped them away with the back of his hand. 

The boy lay down on the ground, never taking his eyes off of the moon, which became a darker red with each passing minute, and waited for the Mentor to arrive and help him to decide. 

A passage from one of the odd letters he had gotten in the mail once every month after his 14th birthday came into his mind. The letters were always addressed to him but had never had a return address on them, or a stamp that could have told him from where and when the letter was sent. He had never understood why someone would tell him all that, or how they could have known about the genes he had gotten from his mother. Kurt had tried everything he could to find out who or what was mailing him, but the letters where always printed in a generic font on plain white paper stuffed in light blue envelopes. Now that his life was about to change, he was glad to have the extra information supplied by the stranger.

"It starts with a shiver down your spine, as if you are sitting on the couch, watching TV, and out of nowhere you back tingles and your body shivers despite the room being warm and you having blanket that you have snuggled up in. 

Just - this shiver feels different. You know it’s about to start. You know that, in a few hours, you will lay on the floor or in your bed, screaming in pain and agony. Sweat will cover your whole body and it will feel like you are freezing and burning up at the same time.

First, your organs will shut down one after another. Your liver will stop filtering blood and helping you digest the last meal you will ever eat. If you are lucky your stomach will be empty by the time your sickness sets in. If not you will throw up violently, until you spit up nothing but blood. Your kidneys probably stopped working the day before, or the day before that, but you didn't really pay attention to whether you had to pee or not. I mean, come on, who really keeps track of that? 

Your heartbeat slows down, and your blood pressure drops. You start to feel dizzy and you get cold faster. "

That is when Kurt should have known it was coming. He had spent every free minute he had researching the symptoms so that he wouldn't get sick in school, holding onto the papers mailed to him and looking up everything he could think of online.

*

He woke up on May 26th, around 6am, got up and changed into his running clothes to go jogging through the neighborhood. While he was bent down to tie his white Adidas, he had gotten dizzy. He blamed it on not having had breakfast yet. Despite running and working up a sweat, Kurt was a little cold when he got home. 

After a hot shower to clean and warm himself up, he dressed in his favorite pair of jeans (they sat just right, and made his legs look amazing) and the teal long sleeve Henley he felt made eyes pop. It wasn't what he usually wore, but it was stylish and still warm enough to battle the last cold hours of what he felt was a chilly morning. A quick look at the clock showed him that he was running late, so, without eating breakfast, he ran out the door to make the 8am train to get to school on time. 

Everything seemed to work against him that day. He just made it to school, so there was still no time for breakfast. His classes seemed to drag, and, on his way to lunch, he got stopped by one of his classmates who asked to borrow his notes, which resulted in a conversation about the meaning behind Wicked and how Idina Menzel was superior to all of the others. By the time Kurt checked his watch, lunch was over and he had to rush to his next class across campus.

The shivering and the dizziness had hit him right during Dance 101 with Cassandra July. It shocked him to the core and he stumbled into Cassandra herself, which got him kicked out of class early. He had grabbed his stuff and left school without changing to take the train back to his apartment. 

To Kurt’s surprise, his dad was waiting for him at the door, stopping by for a visit since the next day would be his birthday. Not wanting to upset his father, Kurt said nothing and instead hugged him and let them both into the apartment. The change would take some time, and her hoped that maybe he could sneak it past Burt without him noticing. The last thing Kurt wanted was to worry his dad. Burt had had to watch his wife go through the change shortly after they had gotten married, and it scarred the man for life. 

*

Kurt kept staring at the moon and let his mind wander. Which way was he going to choose? He had three choices, and neither of the first two seemed appealing. He considered those options, and what he knew of them.

Craven: a sick and depressed creature, haunted by past decisions and regrets. Unable to withstand sunlight and therefore doomed to live in the dark. Unable to feed themselves and dependent on others. Always lives in covens.

Predator: vicious and dangerous. More often than not, will kill for joy. They hunt humans to feed. Smart and calculating. They don't feel regret or any kind of emotion, aside from rage and hatred. Lone wolves. Able to walk around outside during the day, as long there are clouds blocking the sun. 

Kurt thought of the letters again, one fragment floating to the surface:

"Maybe this is where the Twilight novels got their idea of sparkling vampires from. Not that you’d really sparkle. Pure sunlight over an extended period of time will hurt you, and eventually burn you into ashes."

Neither of those option felt right to him. Yes, he was proud and strong, but the thought of becoming a predator scared him. He didn't want to hurt others, not after everything he’d been through. It was his past, and the pain and fear he’d had to endure, that made him worry he would become a craven.

"It will be your personal traits that push you into the arms of the dark shadow, hunting you during your time in the forest. If you are vain, or self absorbed, and you feel like you can challenge him, he will come to you. He will try and scare you into running away from him, but if you stand up to him he will take you under his wing and you will become a predator just like him. 

If you choose to run from him, never forget that he cannot hurt you. He will lie to you and make you believe he can, and he will force you to the foot of the mountain. He will make sure to scare the creature living there in a cave in order to make you feel sorry for her. 

If you don't want to end up as a craven, living with hundreds in abandoned houses or subway tunnels or the sewers, do not take pity on her. Do not go into her cave. 

I write her because to me she appeared as an old lady looking to be in her late hundreds, back bent by time and age, skin hanging in folds of her body. She will cry and beg you to protect her from the shadow. I had to witness him breaking her bones. The sound of her screams haunt me to this day, in the few hours I spend pretending to be asleep. 

Once you set foot into her home, or help her in any way, she won’t let you go and you will become one of them. 

No matter how scared you are of the shadow, and no matter how sorry you feel for the creature in the cave, stand tall. Prove both of them wrong, and wait for the Mentor to come and bring you back to your body to start a new life, as human as possible."

That left only the third option, and that was the one he would try for. Become a vampire, but stay as human as possible. He would still need human blood to survive, but it would be delivered in blood bags. The ones that had become vampires and disguised themselves as humans had started long ago to undermine and infiltrate the human medical world. Some had been looking for a solution or a cure for the genetic mutation that caused the change, but still others were working as nurses and doctors. Almost all of the United States' blood banks were managed by vampires. Sometimes humans donated blood directly to the vampires, not knowing they had walked into an office full of them. The mind tricks some of the vampires could play made sure they would never ask questions and would always come back. The blood that wouldn't make the grade in the hospitals because it wasn’t suitable for humans, or which was simply about to expire, was carefully taken out of the paper trail and distributed to the vampires living in the state. The delivery cars looked just like simple milk trucks so as not to arouse suspicion amongst the neighbors and, just like the milkmen, they were organized in sections and routes. Once a new vampire changed and joined his or her family, the order would go out and the delivery would commence. That would be Kurt’s preferred option, at least.

He was still considering these options when a voice came from a tree to his right and startled him. "Oh God, it is you! I didn't think you’d be one of us, or that you’d even survive the fever! Should I show you right to the cave, or should I let you find it on your own?" 

Kurt jumped up. The voice did sound familiar and, once the words actually registered in his brain, he got angry. He turned his nose up and put on the ice cold facade he always wore when challenged, and turned to the edge of the woods where he could make out a lanky figure standing in the shadow.

"Aren't you here to help me instead of taunting me? The fuck do you think you are?" He hadn’t expected the Mentor to be an ass. 'Well,’ he thought to himself, ‘this night is just going splendidly now, isn’t it?' The Mentor stepped into the circle of grass and Kurt almost choked on the shocked breath of air he quickly inhaled once he saw who he was going to have to deal with from now on.

"How on earth did you become the Mentor?" he asked with venom in his voice. "I didn't think there was a single good bone in your body, but it is good to know I was right about you not having a soul or even the capability of being human."

"Watch it, gay face, I really am the only chance you have to get of here alive. Or, well, well sort of alive." Sebastian Smythe answered with a snarl. That was when Kurt saw his blood red eyes, and his fangs hanging over his lips.

"Oh look, surprise, you’re a predator. What, you just suck your one night stands dry after they sucked you?"

Sebastian only cocked his head and grinned. "Why I choose to be what I am and how I choose to live my life really isn't your problem now, is it? Right now, you need to think and tell me what you are going for here, and how much you know already." Looking up at the moon and then back to Kurt he continued, "We have about five more minutes before this moon is blood red and the shadow comes out to play. I won’t be here to help you with him or the creature. They don't like that I created a third option." 

That comment made Kurt curious. "What do you mean, 'you created the third option'? Hasn't it always been like that?"

Looking up nervously, Sebastian spat, "We don't have time for that right now. I have to get out of here. What do you want?"

"I want to be human, or as close as possible."

"Well good luck, honey. I will come for you as soon as he has got you trapped at the cave. Stay strong, and don't ruin your pants when he shows up"

Just as Kurt was about to answer back, a low rumbling was heard in the distance. The moon above them had turned a dark blood red and on the horizon they could see darkness rising and traveling fast across the sky towards them. The air had turned colder and a shiver ran up Kurt's back. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked, but, when he turned back to where Sebastian had been not even a minute ago, the spot was empty. 'Here we go,' he said to himself, and started running into the woods, away from the darkness fast approaching.

Kurt ran towards the mountains. If he wanted this dream to be over, he might as well make it easy on the shadow, the creature and himself by running right to where he would end up anyway.

Trying to stay ahead of the looming darkness, he ran straight through the forest, branches cutting into his face and arms. Roots seemed to rise from the ground, purposely tripping him. The things that had waited outside the grass circle earlier now got braver, reaching for him, attempting to slow him down. They were holding onto his clothes, and ripping the fabric of his shirt and pants, scratching him in the process. Blood ran down his arms, chest and back, soaking his once white shirt and gray pants in a sticky red mess. Little drops of the liquid oozed from a cut on his eyebrow, mixed with his sweat and dripped into his eyes, making it even harder to evade the claws and teeth that came from left and right, from above him and seemingly out of the ground. He was panting hard but he kept running. 

He turned around once to see how close the shadow had gotten, and, just then, one creature to his left saw him distracted and slashed its claws into his thigh, ripping the skin. Screaming in pain, Kurt toppled to the ground. Tears streamed down his face as he inspected the wound. It wasn't fatal -

"…You cannot die in the forest, but the trees and the monsters living there will do anything they can, to make you believe otherwise…"

\- but it sure hurt like a bitch. A piece of flesh was missing, and blood streamed out of the wound.

Kurt ripped the bottom of his shirt off and tied it around his thigh above the hole in order to stop the bleeding. In all, it took no more then three or four minutes, but more and more monsters came to surround him. He knew sitting there for longer would result in even more pieces of his flesh missing, plus every minute he spent sitting on the cold, dark ground also meant the shadow of the Predator was getting closer. 

With shaking arms and pain soaring through his leg, he pulled himself up to a standing position. He put some weight on his injured leg to see if he could go further or if he would have to wait for the shadow to drag him to the cave. Relieved to discover that standing didn't result in blinding pain, he inhaled and reached for one of the branches right next to him. The bark felt slimy and cold, but he broke it off to use it as a weapon. He started swinging it like a machete in front of him to chase away the things that had gotten into his way and were trying to get closer to him. Once he had a cleared a path wide enough to ensure no more of his blood would be spilled, he threw the branch away and picked up a running pace that felt comfortable. Limping now, he was slower than before, but still fast enough that he wasn't worried about the distance between him and the big predator as he continued on his way to the mountain.

"Head straight through the forest, towards the hills. The trees and the creatures living there will try and either block your way or hurt you to stop you from taking the shortest route! Do not spend much time thinking about what’s going to happen, just keep going. If you make it to the clearing at the bottom of the hill before the shadow has reached you, there is nothing they can do to you anymore. 

Stay out of sight so the creature from the cave doesn't see you until the shadow has arrived. Once he is there, he will be enraged that he didn't catch you (sore loser, I know), but do not let that scare you. Step up to him and deny him."

After what felt like hours of running, Kurt saw a dim light a few hundred feet ahead of him. The trees seemed to glow in a flickering orange-yellow tone, indicating that there was a fire burning. Slowly, he walked closer, making sure that he couldn’t be seen. In front of him, right in front of the line of trees he was hiding in, was the clearing. He was able to look straight into the cave. Not wanting to walk straight into the creature’s arms, he started running to the left, staying behind the tree line but making sure he didn’t get drawn deeper into the woods again. The creature’s cave was now to his right, and slowly he crept out of the woods into the clearing.

His wounded leg was throbbing from the running and blood was still seeping out of the hole that that little bastard had ripped into his flesh. Kurt's socks were torn to shreds and soaked in his own blood, making the fabric stick to his skin. Twigs, dirt, leaves and God knew what else were stuck to the bottom, making it even harder for him to walk. He held onto a rock for balance and bent down to get rid of the remains of the once white cotton and used it to wipe down his leg so he could inspect the damage that had been done. The bleeding had slowed down a lot and, as long as he didn't touch the area around it, the pain was bearable.

After cleaning himself up as well as he could, he took a look around.

The area he was standing in was shaped like an odd circumcircle, with the trees behind him forming the dark half round line, and the mountain, covered in sharp edges, dead bushes and dry grass, cutting the shape off like a wall. Moss hung over some of the edges, making it look like the dark brown rock was bleeding and dripping into the clearing. The ground under his feet was dry and cold. It looked like there could have been some grass growing a long, long time ago, but now it was just dirt mixed with little sharp edged pebbles that cut and poked into the bottom of his feet.

Just as he had planned, the entrance to the cave now lay to his right, hastily covered by what seemed like a door, handmade from old branches. A glow of light shone through the spaces between the makeshift planks, giving the space in front of the cave a warm and inviting glow, but Kurt knew better.

A loud rumble startled Kurt from thoughts of what was going to happen next, and on the opposite side of him, leaving the cave between them, the darkness touched the ground. The shapeless cloud of black smoke slowly materialized into the looming shape of a man dressed all in black. His face was hidden by long straight black hair that reached his shoulders. It seemed that the darkness was dressed in a black suit, black shirt and a trench coat. 

'God, I hope that is a trench coat and not a cape! Capes are so cheesy,' he thought. It took Kurt a second to realize the absurdity of the situation, and then he giggled. He just judged the clothing choices of the great and scary darkness that was going to try and turn him towards becoming a predator. This night was not going the way he’d thought it would.

The creak of a door opening took his attention away from the figure across from him and directed it to the cave. 

"Hello?" a thin and quiet voice asked into the clearing. "Is somebody out there?"

"Silence!" boomed the voice of the Great Predator and, with a whimper, the old creature went back inside its cave.

Kurt was staring. This all seemed so unreal to him. Suddenly, the shadow stood right in front of him. No sound was heard while he had moved, and the air around them seemed to be charged with electricity.

"You are fast, running like the prey you are. How dare you run away from me? How dare you standing here, watching us, waiting like you know what’s going to happen. HOW DARE YOU NOT SHOW ME THE RESPECT I DESERVE?" The Predator's voice grew louder and louder with every question and the last sentence was yelled right into Kurt's face. 

"I am not scared of you! I am not prey. I wasn't running away from you but running to where you wanted to have me anyway, BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN! And for the record, respect is not deserved but earned. You are nothing but a bully that takes joy in scaring and hunting the unfortunate souls that end up in your twisted little dream world, I AM NOT SCARED OF YOU!" Pointing a finger at the shadow, Kurt took a step forward and to his surprise, the great shadow moved back, creating more space between the both of them.

"So it seems you are strong, a leader perhaps. You could be the greatest predator of all of us. Follow me! Become one of us or die here tonight! Become like me, make your choice NOW! Be strong and powerful. I can make you invincible."

"NO!" came a whimper from the cave. "Come here, help me, protect me! I am so scared! He is going to hurt me again. Come inside and warm up at my fireplace. I will clean your wounds and make you feel better. Don't become a monster, stay with me and you will never have to kill."

Both beings kept talking, voices growing louder and more insistent. 

"Be strong, kill with me," was yelled at him from the figure in front of him,

"Don't hurt me," the old and fragile within creature whined.

"Feast on the weak," the Predator snarled.

"Stay and hide from all the pain. Oh help me, please stay with me my darling boy," came the plea from behind the makeshift door.

By that point Kurt couldn't understand a single word anymore, since both voices just started to blend together into a roaring that echoed across the clearing, only to get reflected back by the mountain, turning it into an endless loop of echoes.

*

Meanwhile, back in New York, Burt sat at his son's bedside. He looked tired, and his red rimmed eyes were hurting from a mix of crying and lack of sleep. He reached up to change the wet washcloth from Kurt's forehead, a useless attempt at bringing the fever down.

"You know that’s not going to help him, right?" A voice from the doorway interrupted his movement. Slowly, he turned around and looked over.

"You’re late," Burt accused. "You were supposed to be here and help him through, not pop up when he’s almost dead, just to let me know how little I can do! Look at my son, lying here, still and barely breathing. His skin feels like I could fry an egg on it. I changed the sheets three times already because he keeps sweating through them and it's only been one hour!" Burt got up and walked over to the hooded figure leaning against the wall right next to the door. The light from the hallway fell into the room and, when he got close enough, he was able to see under the hood.

"I should have known you were one of them, too. Why did you come into his life? You tried to blind him and hurt Blaine in the process. How on earth can you be the one that I have to trust with my only child's future!?" His index finger poked into Sebastian's chest, and he yelled straight at his face, shaking with rage and helplessness.

Sebastian put his hand over Burt's and pushed the accusing finger slowly down so he could walk closer. In a whispered voice, he answered, "I was an idiot, hell I still am and I didn't know. We never know as long as we are human. We know it could happen, but we all hope it doesn't. I mean, who wants this life? We are trapped living at night, granted only a few minutes of sunlight under great agony and fear of burning alive if the sun finds a weak spot in the clouds. We learn to appreciate rainy days. We drink blood, for crying out loud!" 

Shaking his head, he turned away from Burt and walked to Kurt's bed. He stopped at the foot and looked down onto the dying body hanging on to the last remainders of human life. "He’s almost dead, but he’s strong and stubborn. I’m pretty sure he is at the clearing already, and, from the looks of it, already arguing for his humanity. I have to go there. I have to be there and be his third choice, or he will be stuck with either killing or suffering."

"Why do you have to be the third choice? What do you mean?"

"Nothing, don't worry about me, worry about Kurt."

And he was gone. No smoke, no thunder, nothing fancy. Sebastian was gone, and Burt was left staring into the space that was left.

*

"Shut up! Both of you need to shut up!" Kurt yelled. 

Pointing a finger at the cave entrance which the creature looked out of, he continued, "First of all, to you, you need to stop whining and crying. I am not going with you. I will not turn into one of you. Second," he turned towards the shadow, "I will not turn into a monster. I don't want to go out, hunting humans or scarring and murdering them just for fun, like you do." 

Kurt's chest was heaving from the screaming and the adrenalin in his body made him shake all over. Fear and nervousness were starting to show on his face, knowing he had just angered the two worst nightmares of the vampire nation. He was worried about what was going to happen next. As of right now, all he could do was wait and see, but inside he was wondering and growing impatient about where Sebastian was and why he wasn't here yet. Kurt had done everything he could in order to stay as human as possible, yet his golden ticket out was taking his sweet time showing up and saving him from the enraged beasts he was now trapped with. 

"The Mentor is the only one that can get you out of the dream world once you have stood up to the creature and the shadow."

'Where is he,' he wondered. He was out of words and he was running out of time. 'I hope nobody ever got trapped here just because Sebastian was busy screwing around rather than coming to help them.' His stomach sank and he took a step back in order to get some distance from the Great Predator who was still right in front of him.

"You pathetic excuse of a wannabe Vampire," the dark figure in front of him snarled as he noticed Kurt's shrinking back. "You should go on and go to the cave. Go on - run to safety from the monster," he started to mock. He bent down towards Kurt's face and growled like an animal, showing of his sharp, pointy fangs.

"Kurt!" Sebastian's voice called from behind the shadow, "Run!"

Kurt dashed around the Predator and ran in a big curve, as far away as possible from the cave entrance, towards the edge of the treeline where Sebastian was waiting for him.

"One day, I will find you in the outside world and I will rip you to pieces, you traitor!" the shadow yelled in Sebastian’s direction from behind Kurt, but he didn't move any closer. He seemed to know that he had lost this one. The other creature moved slowly back into its cave, but not without snarling and hissing at the two boys until it closed the door.

As soon as he was close enough, the tall Warbler grabbed Kurt's shoulder and pulled him into the forest and away from the clearing with the two angry monsters.

With that, everything became foggy around the two boys. 

*

Sebastian appeared next to Kurt's bed and sat down in the chair Burt must have put there before he left the room. He was probably still in the apartment, but there was no time to go look for him to let him know that he and Kurt were back. 

Kurt slowly came back to consciousness. His body was in agonizing pain and he couldn't move. His insides must have been boiling, as everything felt like it was on fire. When the pain became too much and he wanted to scream, but neither his mouth nor his throat or his vocal cords were working. All he could do was lay there and endure it. A single tear rolled down his face, and Sebastian carefully wiped it away with his thumb. "I am so sorry, but there is nothing I can do for you. Stay strong for Burt. I’ll be here the whole time," he whispered into the boy’s ear.

"The changes in your body are going to hurt like nothing you have ever experienced in your life. That is one of the reasons we always hope our children or friends and loved ones won’t fall prey to this dreaded disease. We don't talk about it after we are back, and are moving on to make it easier on our families. All I can tell you is that you will be fine. The burning will stop, and within the next four to eight hours you will gain control over you body again. The Mentor will sit with you until you are able to move and he will explain to you how your life will work from now on, depending on what you have chosen in the clearing."

The clattering sound of Burt making coffee in the kitchen startled Sebastian out of his trance. He quickly removed his hand from where it was still resting on Kurt's face, his thumb still absently stroking in a calming motion. Kurt's eyes were wide with fear and pain and thousands of questions, staring at his Mentor. Sebastian cleared his throat and looked over his shoulder to the closed door, willing Burt to come back inside and break the silence. After a few seconds, which seemed to stretch into hours, the Mentor looked at Kurt and with a sigh he started to speak.

"I know it hurts right now, trust me, I have been there, too. I'm actually glad newborns like you can't speak or the screaming would alarm the whole neighborhood." Kurt managed to glare at Sebastian and make him chuckle. "Well, if you can already throw your 'bitch please' face at me, then you are well on your way to talking and moving. I’m not sure how much you already know, but you might be able to do stuff now." A slight tilt of Kurt’s head indicated his interest in the topic, and proved how well the process of changing was going.

"Now," Sebastian continued, "Before you ask me something stupid, sweetheart, no, you won't turn into a bat and fly away into the darkness, but I, for example, can run faster then my shadow and make it across the US in under five minutes without breaking into a sweat. I am sure you are glad to hear that sweating is a thing of the past now. Others can communicate telepathically, or pick up and move things with their mind. I have heard rumors of invisibility, but that has not been confirmed yet. Not all of us get to have 'superpowers' though, so don't be upset if you just go back to your normal annoying self. Well, minus the heartbeat." Sebastian looked concerned, and with a firmer voice, he said, "Right now, I need you to stay calm and let your body change. I need to go and organize your first few meals, until you are strong enough to set up your own order. The blood is going to get delivered to your doorstep and you don't have to pay for it right away. However, as soon as you graduate and find a job to make some money, we will take 10% of your paycheck each month. This will pay the wages for our delivery staff, the blood bank staff, and hospitals. It will be used for bribes or bail in case one of us gets caught meddling with the paperwork to make the blood bags disappear. Nobody is going to ask questions as to why 10% goes missing. It will look like a church tax on your papers."

Sebastian got up from the chair and made to leave when Kurt’s hand on his arm stopped him. The Mentor then cradled the hand in his and carefully placed it back on the bed. “Don't force it. You’re doing great already, please let yourself rest, and let your body take its time. I am going to get your dad to sit with you until I am back." 

With that, Sebastian vanished out of the room, and, a few minutes later, Burt entered and sat down with his son.

 

 

*

 

 

Kurt had to change a lot of things in his life. He cut a lot of ties binding him to his former self. He stopped calling or texting Rachel and Santana, stopped meeting them for lunch or brunch, for obvious reasons. He deleted his Facebook and did everything he could to completely vanish from the online world. He got himself a new phone, and he had already set up appointments to look for a new place to live, something on the bottom floor somewhere, maybe. He was hoping to find a cheap house to lease or buy, just so he wouldn't have to worry about the sunlight anymore.

The thing that hurt him most was cutting ties with his family. He could have tried to stick it out, but flying posed too many risks for him. Running was an option, but what would the neighbors say when he kept showing up, looking exactly the same? True, he'd always looked younger than he was, and so he wouldn't be forced to alter his face with make up anytime soon, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Sebastian had told him it was stupid to stop visiting his family, but Kurt had just growled at him and kicked him out of his living room.

Letting go of the Skype dates with Blaine was hard as well. Letting go of Blaine was going to hurt him a lot. He was still his best friend, even if they couldn't see each other all the time. Ever since they had broken up, it had been hard to talk to each other. It was clear that both of them still loved each other but, with Blaine changing his career goals and studying to become a music therapist, they had only little time to actually talk. Meeting up wasn't possible due to their schedules, and now - with Kurt not being human anymore - he thought it best to just save them both a lot of heartbreak and cut those ties, too. 

A few weeks after he had changed and most of his old life had been taken care of, Kurt sat down and wrote a letter to his ex-boyfriend and best friend.

Dear Blaine,

This is probably the hardest thing I'll ever have to do. I don't even know where to start. I have recently started a new kind of life and no, I cannot tell you more details. All I can tell you is that I won't be contacting you anymore. I am going to stop talking to everyone from my old life, including my dad, in order to focus on my new beginning. Please know that it is nothing you have done or said that made me choose this path. This change has been waiting for me all my life, and now the time has come. 

I need you to know that I love you with all my heart. I always have and I always will, for eternity. I forgave you a long time ago for what happened, and I have to know that you understand this. 

Please, go and find someone who makes you as happy as you made me. You deserve the world given to you wrapped in bow ties, and I can't give you that. I am not the shy, blushing boy you fell in love with anymore, and it rips my heart to pieces telling you all this. 

Do you remember the first time we saw each other? I couldn't believe my eyes. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but you knew right away that something was wrong, you never questioned me about what made me come that day, you just knew. You knew it wasn't just the spying. You were the only one that was able to see what I was going through. You looked straight into my heart and soul and slowly but surely fixed me. 

I loved you from the moment we met, and I can't believe how long it took you to come to your senses. But in the end, waiting for you was worth it. You gave me the best senior year I could have asked for. You gave me my first real kiss and you showed me that physical intimacy wasn't scary. You have always been able to read me like an open book, and that is why I can't have you in my life anymore. For you to know means putting everything I love in danger, and I couldn't forgive myself if I ever got you hurt over something that only involves me.

Don't write back, don't call, and don't e-mail me. Don't try to find me. Remember me as a friend, and find happiness in life, that is all I am asking of you.

With all my love  
Kurt XXX

Once he was done writing, he folded the paper in half, gently put it in an envelope and wrote Blaine's name on the outside. He wasn't going to mail it. Knowing where Blaine lived, Kurt wanted to wait until nighttime and drop it into the mailbox himself. If he got lucky, perhaps he could even score a quick last view of his friend.

*

A couple months had gone by and Kurt had fallen into his new life with few problems. He was grateful that he was almost done with school, and that the few classes he absolutely couldn't drop were either held after dark or online. His new timetable also ensured that he wouldn't run into Rachel and didn't have to worry about her asking all sorts of questions.

He'd found a cute little townhouse in a rather quiet neighborhood which was for sale reasonably cheaply. He sold most of his belongings and used some of the money his dad had sent him right before he stopped calling or writing. Burt wasn't happy with Kurt's decision, but he understood where it came from. He did wrestle the promise from him to visit once a year on Christmas, and he did get Kurt's new phone number, under the condition that he not give it out to anybody else, not even Blaine.

The blood appeared every other day at his doorstep, and his fridge looked like something out of a horror movie. He had tried to power through it and still have his odd cup of coffee here and there, but after a few weeks he gave up. He didn't really need to drink caffeine anyway, due to the fact that he didn't sleep, and the taste was so different, so fake and foreign, that he just couldn't do it to himself anymore. The bags were always labeled with numbers and a bar code. Probably, he figured, to be able to track the donor down if something was wrong. The bags that came from the hospitals looked very professional, whereas the bags from the blood banks that were run by vampires looked kind of sloppy. The bag itself was the same, but the labels looked homemade. And yet, those were his favorites. 

AB684 was his absolute favorite, to be exact. He had figured out that each donor had a number letter combination, and, by the taste of it, the same number never had been given to another person. 

KD009 had some traces of alcohol in his or her blood, maybe to get over the fear of needles in order to donate, or perhaps a serious problem. Kurt didn't really care. Those bags were on the bottom shelf on the right side. He couldn't get drunk from it, but the flavor of wine or Scotch made it seem fancy to drink on a Friday night while watching TV.

LS694 was always a bit spicy. It had a "zing" to it that he couldn't explain, but he loved it. Middle shelf, left side, for days when he felt like eating something exotic.

AB684 was delicious, though. Kurt was pretty sure if he ever meet that person in real life, he could be tempted to bite, just once, just to have that flavor straight from the vein. It was heavenly to him. Maybe he was being nostalgic, since that was the same donor he had in his first cup of blood so many weeks before, but there was something about it that he just couldn't shake. While he had no problem offering Sebastian, who stopped by way more often then Kurt thought he needed to, something to drink, that was the only blood he never offered. 

Sebastian knew that, and always made fun of him for being a blood snob - just like humans had wine snobs - but Kurt didn't care. "Take it or leave it," he said to his Mentor. "I changed my entire life because of this disease. I left all my friends, I hardly talk to my father. I'm not even talking to Blaine anymore, even though he still calls my father at least twice a week to ask if he heard from me. So leave me this. I have found something that tastes like home to me, it makes me feel warm and safe and I am not giving this up. For all I know, AB684 is a 54 year old white overweight lady with greasy hair and no manners, but I don't care. Wanna know why? Because it tastes amazing, and I won't share it, so get over it. Who knows, tomorrow that donor could get killed by a car or jump of a bridge. Hell, maybe they'll die of old age. As long as they have it, I will drink it and not share it." 

Sebastian raised his hands and backed away after Kurt had finished his rant. "Geez, calm down, Barbara! I am just poking fun at you. I have my favorites too. Granted, I usually drink straight from the tap, but you know what I mean."

* 

More months went by and, in between the seasons changing, Kurt graduated. He was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to graduate with honors but with having dropped so many classes because he couldn't attend them anymore, he had struggled to make it at all. 

Through the connections provided by Sebastian, he was able to land a job at Vogue.com. Although in the beginning he was barely getting paid and was writing the fashion horoscope, he was working for Vogue. He briefly entertained the idea of finding one of the off-Broadway theaters to see if they had nighttime rehearsals, as well as the show running night performances, but he couldn't find a single one that didn't make him blush, as the storylines seemed to get raunchier with every script he looked at. Finally, he decided that he was not ready to shake his butt dressed only in a tiny little string to the sounds of The Lion King, which was the best he could find.

After yet another fruitless search for additional ways of getting money into his account, he called Sebastian to ask for help again. As much as Kurt didn't like asking the former Warbler for anything, he had proven him self as a great Mentor in the past months. He was the only one from Kurt's old life that he still had contact with. Despite the differences they had had in the past, it turned out that Sebastian was a decent enough person to have around. He got on Kurt's nerves and drove him crazy with his snarky attitude and the lewd comments, but at least he was able to understand what Kurt was going through and always helped him to see reason in his new life.

Kurt plucked his phone out of his pants and dialed one of the three numbers he had saved in there. Besides his Mentor’s number, there was his father’s and the number for the blood delivery. He kept his father’s because he had promised, when he pulled his disappearing act, to call once a week and let him know how he was doing; the blood delivery one was in case he needed to change his order for some reason or another. 

The line rang twice before the phone was answered with a simple, "Yes?"

"Sebastian, I need money," was the first thing he said. 

"Well, hello to you too, Kurt, yes I’m doing fine thank you for asking. No, don't worry, you weren't bothering me at all. It’s not like I have other things to do besides answering your every call," Sebastian answered in a sarcastic tone, but the laugh at the end gave away that he was just riling Kurt up and wasn't really bothered at all. "Back to your question, though. With an ass like yours you could make an easy $200 a night. If you don't say anything and just use your mouth to suck dick, it could be even more. Plus, we don't tax money you make that way."

"Oh, shut up, you ass! You know what I mean. This rent isn't paying itself, although I guess, with the night-vision thing I save a shit ton of money on electricity, and not needing to maintain a healthy body temperature saves on the heating, but still. This job is driving me crazy. I write fucking horoscopes!" Kurt let out a sigh. "I appreciate you helping me out and getting me this job, I really do. But I graduated from NYADA, I want to be on stage and perform, not write cryptic bullshit that somehow ties to fashion one way or another. All the shows I looked into are R rated, and I’m simply not cut out for that. Isn't there anything you could do?" Kurt was desperate now, and only a little bit embarrassed about the whining tone his voice had taken towards the end of his rant.

"Sweetheart, I told you graduating from that fancy prancing school wasn't gonna get you anywhere in our society. A doctor, teacher, nurse or anything useful, really, but we have absolutely no ties to the dramatic arts. Come on now, we’ve had this conversation plenty of times. The only thing I know about that’s open is a spot at one of the blood banks across town. Nothing big, you wouldn't even work with the humans. All you would do would be labeling the bags and packing them into the Styrofoam shipping boxes for the delivery guys to pick up. That would pay about double what you make right now and if you’re good at splitting your time up and you get lucky with the shifts, you might even be able to keep both jobs. It’s not like you have a social life anyways." 

The last part, the Mentor nearly snarled. Sebastian was very bothered by the fact that Kurt had refused to get out and meet some of his own kind, and would rather sit alone at home and just stare at his computer. The only times he saw Kurt leave his home and talk to others was when he had dropped everything and moved, when he had had to go out and look at houses and he had to go shopping several times to get stuff for his place. Now that everything was set up, graduation had passed and school was no longer a problem, Kurt barely made it to the front door to get his food delivery. Luckily, his neighbors didn't seem to care about the weirdo that had bought the old and rundown house on the street, and didn't pay much attention to whether he got mail or actually put his trash out. 

It wasn't like Kurt wanted to be secluded from the world around him, but the thought of hurting another human scared him. The only way, in his opinion, was to go out on stage and focus on the role, hoping that the concentration needed would be enough to distract him from the smell of pumping blood in veins so close to bite and the dull boom, boom, boom he could hear from the hear beats he had encountered.

"So there’s nothing that I could do from home, is that what you are saying?" Kurt questioned. "Why are you so hell bent on getting me out of my house? Why does the fact that I like my own company best bother you so much?"

"Because if left alone and without any form of contact, vampires go crazy, that's why, you stubborn idiot.!" Sebastian yelled through the phone. "Because we need to talk to others and learn, because if we all just don’t care for one another, all hell is going to break loose. The peace we live in between the three groups of us and the humans will break apart. Because I am worried about you! Maybe because I don't understand why you have to be such a self-centered, self-loving, selfish, arrogant dick now that you changed! You used to crave friendship and acknowledgment like others did air, and now you’re a well dressed but lonely weirdo that doesn't leave his house unless the blood he lives off of gets dropped off at the curb instead of right at the doorstep! And then you call to complain about that! What the fuck happened to you?" 

Sebastian hung up without another word and Kurt was left staring dumbly at his phone. "Who the hell does he think he is?" he grumbled to himself, and placed it onto the table right next to his computer. 

About 20 minutes later, his phone chimed with the signal for a text message and when he looked down at the screen he saw that it was from his Mentor.

You start tomorrow at 130pm so I suggest you rest tonight. Your shift ends when the sun goes down.

A second message came in, explaining to him that there would be a shuttle bus with sun-proofed windows, and a human driver who wouldn’t ask questions, coming to pick him and the others up. 

*

Kurt was dead set on ignoring his Mentor’s demands and just letting the bus drive past his house instead of going in to work at the blood bank. He spent the first 4 hours of the night writing his shitty horoscopes and, when his computer clock showed that it was well past eleven at night, he got up and went to the kitchen to get himself a cup of blood to ease the nerves which were on edge ever since his conversation with Sebastian. 

He opened the fridge and a smile spread across his face. The last delivery had two bags of his favorite blood in it, and he had been saving them for a rainy day, so to speak. He took out one of the bags labeled AB684 and turned to his cupboard to grab his favorite cup. Ever since that first night, he had stuck with drinking blood from his favorite mug and something of a fond feeling spread through him, remembering the first time he tasted this particular donor. He had had many different ones since then, but he always came back to this one. Thankfully, with just a little bit of extra money for the drivers and sweet-talking Sebastian into helping him, he was able to make sure that only he would get that blood. It was the most selfish thing he had done for himself, besides letting go of everything and everybody from his human life. He was fine with the funny looks and the teasing comments he got from Sebastian and his delivery man. It tasted like home and warmth to him, and that was something that he hadn't felt in a while due to his self-inflicted lifestyle choices.

He was so focused on the slowly spinning cup in his microwave that he didn’t notice the rustling outside his door. It was the whispering scrape of paper against his hardwood floors that made him aware something going on. In a flash, he was by his front door and looking at the floor in shock. There it was, a vivid memory of his growing up. The same light blue envelope with his name neatly printed in the same generic font as always. It had been almost two years since he had gotten the last one, and he had almost forgotten the thrill that went through him every time one appeared. The mysterious person sending him these knew about him and what his life might become back then. Now, Kurt was wondering if they knew it had happened. 'Of course they know. They found you,' he thought, and fear crawled down his spine. He opened the door and extended his fangs, just in case he had to defend himself, but there was nobody there. A cloud of static electricity was still lingering outside of his door, but no sound besides the normal neighborhood noises could be heard. With shaking hands, he closed the door and picked up the letter still lying by his feet.

"While I can't condemn you for the choices you have made, I have to urge you to get out and meet the world you are living in. I do understand why you decided to go this route but it is a dangerous one. There are many thing out there that can and will kill you if given the chance, starting with the humans who know about us. They are few in number but they are armed to their teeth with weapons and knowledge about vampires unlike us, forgotten by the rest of humanity for centuries. Then there’s predators, angry at the choice the Mentor opened up. Angry at the fact that some of us choose to live as humans, and disgusted by the peace we established. There are plenty of predators out there, hunting humans for sport, and a small group has turned against the rules. They seek the lonely and the newborns. Disguised as friends they will slowly convince others to join the cause, collecting members all over the world and training for a war that is bound to happen. The Mentor is their main goal right now, getting rid of him will take away the choice to come back and live a normal life. It was him, one of our strongest predators that ever walked this earth, that decided there has to be more to life then killing. He found his way into the dream world and he faced both creatures in a fight nobody dares to speak of anymore. Your friend is older than you think. When the time comes, ask him. Let him tell you the story. For right now, get out into the world and connect with it. Build friendships and establish a circle of trustworthy beings. Whether you choose them to be human or vampire is your decision but don't life a live as an eremite. It is not in yours or our nature to be alone.

Don't be alarmed by my finding you. I always know where you are and I mean you no harm. I assure you, somewhere down the road we will meet and then you will understand.

With shaking hands, Kurt put the letter back into its envelope and walked to his office. He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the little red box he had stuffed there right after moving in and opened the lid. Inside he had kept all of the letters he ever received, sorted by date from first on the bottom to last on top and he gently placed his newest addition on top of the old ones. Carefully, he placed the top back on the box and put it all back in its place, closing the drawer. 

He went back into the living room, grabbing his now cold cup from the microwave on his way past the kitchen, and sat down on his couch staring at his computer in front of him. Shaking his head to himself, he opened his browser and logged on to his new Facebook page that he hadn't touched since creating it a few months back. Everything on his page was set to private, and he even used an alias, Lestrade Cullen. Sebastian's laughter was still ringing in his ears from the day he had forgotten to log out when the Mentor showed up. Once he had seen it, Kurt didn't hear the end of it for several weeks. 

Automatically, his hand went to the search bar and typed in the same two words that he always did when he went on. "Blaine Anderson." Just because he broke off everything with him and even forbade his father to speak of Blaine, he couldn't stop himself from checking up on his ex-boyfriend. He was scared of the moment he would see that Blaine had found someone, but also sad, noticing that again, nothing had changed. Blaine's profile hadn't been updated in a few months and he was starting to get worried. The last pictures posted were from graduation, showing Blaine giving the speech at the ceremony in his valedictorian outfit. He’d been proud of Blaine when he saw it a few weeks previously, and it still warmed his insides now, seeing him so happy. No new comments had been posted since he last checked on him, or at least, none open to the public. Kurt hoped that Blaine had just finally changed his security settings and now wasn't sharing everything openly anymore. He didn’t think about it too much, just opened his favorite picture and blew it up to full screen. Grabbing his cup, he sat back into his couch cushions.

*

Setting foot into the blood bank was overwhelming for Kurt. The artificial lighting hurt his eyes, and all the noise made by bustling workers getting ready to go home or the computers and printer made his head spin. The smell was a strong mix of human blood and hospital grade disinfectants. This overload on his senses made his knees wobble, and he had to hold onto the wall to his left to stabilize himself. He was already regretting his choice this morning to actually come out and give it a chance, but the letter he had received was scaring him a little and he was hoping to eventually run into the person sending them while out and about.

He only saw the waiting area from the outside, having to walk past the windows on the bottom floor in order to get to lab where he was told he would be working.

The work itself wasn't hard, just boring. The bags came in filled with the warm and delicious liquid, marked with a bar code. All Kurt had to do was scan the code with his little handgun scanner and then print out the small information sticker to give the blood a name and number, and ensure it was traceable back to that exact blood bank. Once the sticker was printed, Kurt stuck it to the matching bag and then placed it into one of the green Styrofoam boxes that littered the lab. Ten bags for each box, close the box and send it to the fridge. Others were responsible for putting orders together and sorting everything out for the delivery trucks to come and pick them up when they started their rounds.

It was amazing, but Sebastian never called nor showed his face at Kurt's to gloat about the fact that he had gotten Kurt to go out of his house to go work. As a matter of fact, it was going to be weeks until Kurt heard from him again.

*

It was the Friday of the fourth week of Kurt's working in the back of the lab, when everything in Kurt's existence changed.

As usual, Kurt got to work with his co-workers and had to go past the glass wall separating the waiting area for the donors from the hallway they used to get to their workplaces. Kurt had often tried to get a look at the faces of the people waiting to unknowingly feed him and his kind, just so he could try and figure out the faces of his favorite flavors, but it was frowned upon to disturb them while they waited, or to make contact with them. The aim was to make sure that nobody felt the need to try to drink straight from the vein. It was one thing to taste someone from a impersonal bag, and quite another to actually smell them in real life, warm blood still pumping through their bodies.

That morning Kurt carefully glanced into the room and almost went into shock right there. Just before the door to one of the offices they used for the donation process closed completely, he could see a man with tan skin, wearing a red polo shirt, disappear into the room. He had stopped dead in his tracks and was staring through the window into the room at the now closed door. The girl walking right behind him wasn't paying attention to what was happening in front of her and promptly ran straight into Kurt, almost knocking him over and dropping her cellphone, which was the reason she wasn't looking. Kurt had seen her every day so far. She was on his shift and was always sat in the bus already when they came to pick him up. From day one, she had been pretty much glued to her phone, typing away message after message and ignoring one call after another. They never really acknowledged each other and the only reason why he knew her name was the bus driver calling after her once when she had left her damn phone laying on her seat.

"If you, for once, would actually watch where you were going, instead of staring at your phone, that would be fan-fucking-tastic," he snapped at the girl, and then turned around and walked through the door to his right into the backroom to get changed for his shift.

Kurt couldn't concentrate at his work because that man in the red polo shirt was on his mind. "Was it Blaine?" he asked himself under his breath, making sure nobody heard him. There was no need to seem like a nut job vampire, talking to oneself while labeling blood. But the thought of Blaine being in New York - it was exciting and scary at the same time. On one hand, he was dying to find out what Blaine was doing right now and what happened to him after high school. On the other hand, for his ex-boyfriend to find out what actually happened was terrifying to him. Just the thought of how Blaine might react made Kurt sick to his stomach.

After misprinting the fifth label in a row because he was so stuck in his own thoughts, he gave himself a pep rally in his mind and decided that it was most definitely not his ex that he saw that morning. The reasonable side of his brain had good arguments. The chances of Blaine ending up in New York without him were small, and knowing that Blaine had a very unreasonable fear of needles did the rest. He gave himself a mental clap on the shoulder for being able to explain the happenings of earlier. He filed these minutes away in his wishful thinking folder, then shook his head and went back - concentrating this time - to his work. 

Once Kurt forced himself to stay focused, he saw that the poor girl from earlier, Jamie, had had to fix all of his mishaps and thus had got behind at her own workstation. He felt bad for snapping at her, especially now that she had to keep pointing out what he did wrong and had to help him fix it. Every time she had to look at him and hand him the bags back, she looked scared. Jamie couldn't have been older then 17 or 18 when she changed, because she looked like she belonged in high school and not at a workstation in the backroom of a fake blood bank.  
On an impulse of feeling sorry, and really wanting to try to make a friend, he smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning. I - I thought I saw someone I know and it startled me." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't get an answer from her, just a timid smile back, but they did go to lunch together when their break was scheduled.

"I'm sorry I walked into you this morning. I keep getting distracted by my phone, or actually by my brother blowing up my phone. He does that every time I have to move and now, ever since they came up with cell phones and smart phones, it is even easier for him to drive me crazy. One would think he’d understand by now that I am old enough to take care of myself. Just because I look 17 doesn't mean I am . Hell, I’m older then him, he just calls himself my older brother because he was 23 when he changed." A pause, and then, "Sorry. I’m ranting away. Its just so frustrating. Not only do I have to move every time someone gets suspicious of my young face, but I have him on my ass too. 94 years of sucking blood and living on my own and he still wants to protect me." Jamie was a little bit out of breath after her speech and Kurt was pretty sure that if she could she would have blushed for talking so much. It was shocking to find out that this young girl was so much older than him, but he said nothing and just smiled at her over the rim of his paper cup of blood.

Both kept chatting the time away and, soon enough, lunch was over and both went back to work. Their conversation went on during the scanning, printing, labeling and sorting, Kurt didn't even notice that he had just packed away a bag of AB684.

Once everyone was getting ready to go home and were just waiting for the car to come and pick them up, Jamie and Kurt exchanged phone numbers with the promise to get together on one of their days off. That night, whilst Kurt had followed his usual routine of shower, dinner, and then writing for Vogue, he had done so with a smile on his face. Knowing he had made a friend meant that he finally had something new to tell his father when he called him on the weekend.

After submitting his writing to Celeste, the woman and - in his opinion - downright bitch he had to deal with at Vogue, he went to check up on Blaine, the stranger he had seen this morning making his way back into Kurt's mind. Kurt just had to make sure.

*

"Blaine Anderson was tagged in a photo."

The post was only a few hours old and Kurt's hands were shaking. He took a deep breath to steady himself and calm his nerves. In all the weeks of not seeing any change on Blaine's page, wishing there was something telling him he was OK, Kurt had never thought actually seeing something new would have this effect on him. 

With one more deep breath for good measure, he moved his pointer to the link and clicked it. After what seemed like an eternity, the page was done loading and he was staring at a rather closed off profile of some girl he didn't know. Somehow it made him feel better, knowing Blaine hadn't been tagged on a new boyfriend’s page. It was selfish of him, he knew that, but he didn't allow himself to feel bad about it.

The picture of Blaine popped to the front of his screen, pulling Kurt's focus towards his ex-boyfriend’s eyes. Still warm and deep and, for a few minutes, he just lost himself in the hazel that used to make his heart beat faster. There he was, smiling like he was trying to cure cancer, holding two thumbs up, pointing at the building behind him. Looking closer, Kurt could make out a dorm building and a few trees. Somehow the scenery looked familiar. Even then, it took him a few seconds, it finally it dawned on him.

The NYADA campus. 

He’d had to walk past that building every time he went to his vocal class. There was a coffee shop down the block to the left. He’d always imagined he and Blaine going there together. 

He looked to the right side of the picture to see if there were any comments. The picture had several likes and one comment. 

Blaine Anderson: too bad i didn't get in but it was fun visiting campus. Good times, good times. Thank you for posting it Leah. 

Facebook told him that 3 people had liked that but that wasn't what interested him the most. Most important was that five minutes ago, Blaine had posted his comment. Panic settled in Kurt's chest and, even though he didn't have to, it was hard to breath. With shaking hands, he grabbed his cellphone of the table and called the first person he could think of.

"Sebastian! He is in New York! What am I gonna do?" he almost yelled when he heard the line picking up.

"Who is here? What’s got your panties in a twist tonight? You sound like you’re about to panic. Calm down and tell me what’s going on," his Mentor answered. 

"Just... Can you come here please? I need to show you what’s going on." Kurt sounded like a scared little child.

"I’ll be there in a few. Don't do anything stupid." Sebastian sounded a bit worried, and Kurt could guess at why. He hadn't sounded this panicked since he'd changed. The last time Kurt had felt like this had been when he'd seen Sebastian in the dream world.

And then the Mentor hung up.

*

Kurt was pacing his living room, walking in circles around his very stylish yet antique coffee table, which had been a lucky find at one of the flea markets he had visited when he was getting his furniture together. A few minutes later, Kurt heard a knock on his front door and went to open it.

It was strange, but Sebastian didn't just enter his apartment anymore. Kurt had yelled at him several times, but it was after a big blow out between them - where Sebastian had already been sat on the couch when Kurt got out of the shower, walking stark naked into the living room - that Sebastian had started at least tried to make a point of not invading Kurt's privacy. Kurt wondered, sometimes, how long Sebastian had been sat there and exactly what he'd heard, other than the pounding of water. If he had heard anything, though, Sebastian kept it to himself and hadn't used it to deliberately embarrass him, yet.

"You look like shit, sweetie," Sebastian said as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Kurt didn't even react to the nickname or the insult. Instead, he went straight to the living room and sat down in front of his computer, trusting his Mentor would follow him without an invite. Sebastian had made it to the couch, and was looking down onto the screen, which still had Blaine's photo open on it.

"Aww, shit. Did he find you? Have you talked to him? What makes you so sure he’s in New York at all?" 

As an answer, Kurt just pointed at the comment Blaine had left and whispered, "The building in the back is NYADA. Well, a dorm building. I walked past it at least twice a week."

Sebastian placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder and rubbed his own face in a desperate and helpless motion with the other. "I need a drink for this conversation," he said, and walked to the kitchen, yelling over his shoulder, "So do you, wonder bread. So don't even try to ask for your precious AB blood."

He opened the fridge and took a look at what Kurt had in stock. Two bags of KD009,  
one LS694, and three of Kurt's comfort food, AB684. 

It was rare that Sebastian got nervous, not after all the time he had spent on this planet, but the conversation he was about to have with Kurt might break the guy and he was genuinely concerned about their friendship and how Kurt was going to take the fact that he had hidden these thing from him.

He grabbed two of Kurt's fancy crystal glasses and heated up a bag of KD009. Looking at the date of when it was donated, he made a mental bullet point to go and visit this donor to make sure he was doing alright. All this drinking couldn't be good for him, unless he was drinking right before he donated. "That is so not my main problem right now," he berated himself, and took the now warm blood bag and the glasses into the living room. Sebastian sat down right next to Kurt on the couch and filled each glass about three quarters full before he handed Kurt one and grabbed the other for himself.

"To our friendship," he cheered, and clicked their glasses together.

Both men finished them in one gulp; Kurt because he still couldn’t believe that Blaine was in New York, and Sebastian out of fear of losing a friend that night.

"OK, baby, here is the deal. You will let me speak and you will let me finish what I have to say. You will not interrupt me and you will not kick me out until we have finished this bag and probably the other one you have in the fridge." Kurt turned to Sebastian with a confused look on his face, about to say something. His Mentor stopped him, putting his hand over Kurt's mouth. "No, my turn. Just give me a minute, OK?" Sebastian took a deep breath and took his hand back down.

"You’re not gonna like what I am about to tell you, but please let me finish. Once I am done, you can kick me out, hit me or scream at me and throw things, but I think it’s time I finally told you about some stuff that I have been keeping from you."

Kurt grabbed the bag and refilled his glass, bracing himself for whatever Sebastian was about to tell him. He squeezed the last drop out of the plastic and went to put it back on the table to throw it away later, but Sebastian stopped his hand and took the bag from him.

"Have you ever taken a closer look at the labels you print out every day, or wondered why you went for these three specific bags every time you order?" Sebastian asked. Kurt shook his head and looked confusedly at his Mentor. 'Whatever do the bags have to do with my Blaine problem right now?' he was wondering.

"The numbers are generated randomly, but the letters are actually the initials from each donor. Every vampire has his favorite flavors, just like humans have their favorite food. It's just that with us, well we are drawn to familiar things. Things our mind remembers from our time as humans. Things we remember without knowing that we do." Sebastian kept playing with the bag and had started picking the label off while he was speaking.

"The memories don't have to be happy ones, but if they are strong we will be drawn to them. Me as a predator, I killed almost everyone I knew after I turned. I was fueled by my hate towards the world and everyone around me, and in my blood lust haze I didn't make a distinction between people that were kind to me and the ones that had made my life a living hell. I drank all of my friends and enemies, their families, and everyone that got in the way of me getting to them, satisfying my body's need to find the memories and feed off of them." His voice was shaking and it took him a moment to shake himself back into the here and now. 

"Your drinks, they are all memories of you past life. Take this one. KD009. Like I said, the number doesn't matter. The letters though, KD, it stands for Karofsky David. I knew it was him, and I am sorry I didn't tell you. He came to New York not long before you did and well, he needed money and I ran into him at the bar. I told him about the blood bank and I told him that they wouldn't check for infections or alcohol and drugs in his system. He wasn’t too concerned about that and was just interested in the money we pay. I will follow up on his drinking problem, though. It can't be healthy to always have alcohol in your system when you go and donate."

Kurt was shocked and stared at his Mentor. He was about to say something when Sebastian kept talking.

"LS694. That is Santana. Considering how much of a bitch she was in high school, I am not surprised she ended up in your fridge. Spicy food was always a weakness of yours. I could smell it on you every time we crossed paths in Lima. And, well, that leads us full circle to tonight I’m afraid."

"AB684 is Blaine," Kurt whispered in shock. He was shaking. He wasn't sure if it was anger or what he just learned that make his body shake but he couldn't stop. Cold shivers were running down his back and he felt sick to his stomach just thinking about having fed from his friends. He’d pretty much lived off of Blaine for the first month. "You gave me Blaine's blood on my first night!" he exclaimed. "You sick fuck!"

Kurt had gotten up and was back to pacing the floor, hand in his hair, not caring whether he was ruining his hairstyle or not. "You knew I was eating my friends! You knew Blaine was in New York. You kept that that from me! You got me hooked on my ex-boyfriend’s blood. What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Sebastian got up, trying to pull Kurt into a hug, but got shoved back violently by the younger vampire and had to catch himself before he fell. "You needed something to give you strength, and he was the best option. His blood made you feel whole and happy. You said yourself that it was making you feel like home. I didn't do it to play a sick game one you, I did it because I have been alive and walking this earth for long enough to know what the the blood of loved ones does for a newborn. I knew very well that it would get you hooked and that you would always get back for more, but I also knew that this was the easiest way to get you settled into this world. You were struggling so hard with the change and everything that you needed something to make you feel better."

He was speaking quietly and sounded almost defeated, but there was truth in his voice and it made Kurt stop his pacing and take a good look at him. There was no sarcastic glint his eyes and the smirk his Mentor wore 24/7 was nowhere to be seen. For long long minutes, Kurt just stared at him, thinking about everything that had changed in his life and whether the information he had just gotten was going to break their friendship or not. Kurt felt betrayed and hurt. He was disgusted with himself and Sebastian. Finally, he took a step closer to his friend and said, "How long have you known Blaine was here?"

"I knew he was here before I knew you were here. I smelled him at one of the bars I frequent on the weekends and I followed him outside. I really was just thinking about finally seducing him, but he was so broken and sad about you leaving and you guys breaking up that I just couldn't do it. We got talking, and he told me how he’d just come to New York and about his goals. He wanted to come and surprise you at your home but wasn't sure if he was welcome or not. I guess the hot and cold shoulder game you had been playing with him, despite being completely understandable why it had happened, did give him a hard time. He was living, or still is living, with two girls and a guy in a small house they rented, and he was going to audition for NYADA. He told me how his parents didn't pay for his college since he decided to go a different career path than they’d had in mind, and I told him about the blood bank. I figured it was one way to get to have a taste of him if he wasn't gonna let me touch him. He told me about his fear of needles, and I straight out laughed at him and told him the amount we pay for each time donors come in. Guess that made a big difference in his choices. I gave him the address of the lab you work at now, and he went right the next day." With a whisper that one could barely hear even with vampire senses, he added, "I got called to your bedside not even five minutes after I talked to him. I went to his house and planted some courage in his mind while he was sleeping so he would actually go through with his plan to go donate in the morning . I knew you were going to need it. That is also why I was pretty late to come and pick you up at the clearing."

The silence between them was maddening after Sebastian had finished. Kurt was still standing, staring at his Mentor, who had sat back down on the couch during his speech and was now looking less like the deadly predator he could be and more like the scared teenager he must have been before he changed. 

Kurt went into the kitchen and opened his fridge. He carefully grabbed on of his "Blaine bags", heated it up and took it into the living room. He sat down right next to Sebastian and placed the bag in the middle, in front of both of them, on the table.

"You do understand that I am incredible mad at you right now, right?" Kurt broke the silence. Sebastian just nodded his head. He lifted his head and looked between the bag on the table and Kurt on his right. "What is going to happen now?" he asked. "You gonna let me have a sip of your ex?" The last question he asked with his all too familiar smirk back on his face.

Kurt laughed at that. "Nope. You’re gonna watch me drink this, and then you’re going to tell me where Blaine lives." 

Sebastian looked shocked at the request and asked, "What are you going to do? You just gonna step back into his life like nothing happened or what?"

Pouring his glass to the brim, Kurt just shrugged with his shoulders. "I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do, but even if I just avoid that area of the city so I don't run into him, you owe me this at least. I need to see him and I need to know how he’s doing. I need closure one way or another, and I can't keep checking up on him on Facebook, knowing he is out there in the city. It would drive me crazy not knowing. I want you to teach me how to track him - or anyone, really - by smell. I’m worried about Karofsky, too. I guess I just need to see them and check up on my own on how they’re all doing. Breaking with my human life was a great idea at the time, but I’m lonely, and if you ever use this information against me, I will hurt you. Maybe knowing how they are doing will help me find my way better." Kurt took his drink and smelled the blood swirling in his glass. "I also need to find something - well someone - else to drink. This seems so much more creepy now, knowing that it is Blaine’s." 

They stayed up all night talking. Now that Sebastian had confessed to hiding things from Kurt, they established a "no hiding rule anything anymore rule". Both agreed that it was a stupid name, but neither cared really to give it a better one. Kurt finished Blaine’s blood by himself, taking great pleasure in teasing Sebastian with it, and once that was gone, the went to the last bag of David’s blood, thinking alcohol was a great way to start a conversation and to keep it going. They couldn’t really get drunk, but the feeling of a small buzz was glimmering through their bodies.

About 2am, Kurt brought up the letters he had gotten all through his childhood, and went to show them to Sebastian, since he didn't believe a single word he was saying. Once Kurt got back with the box of letters, he opened the lid and dumped all of them onto the table, after making sure none of the empty bags where still leaking a bit and that none of his treasured memories would get stained.

Sebastian read every single letter and with each line, each new paragraph, he was stunned.  
"I have no idea who wrote you these," he said after he was done with the last and newest one. "This is really awesome for you, honey bunch, but how the fuck does this person know about me? Like, nobody really knows, but this one seems to know everything. I mean they knew about you before you really did, and they found you here. They knew I was involved with you, and they knew about your struggles. They even seem to know more about the resistance of predators. Did you really not see who gave you the last one?"

Sebastian had talked himself into a frenzy and was now the one pacing. He was incredibly nervous about the author of the letters. "I need to go and find out who this is," he said, and tried to leave.

"Nope, you will sit your meerkat-faced ass right back down and you will explain to me how you were the one that created the third option. I’ve been wondering about that ever since you let that slip in the dark forest." Kurt forced Sebastian to sit down and threw his legs over the Mentor’s lap to keep him from walking away.

"You do know that your scrawny legs won’t actually hold me back if I want to get up, right?" Sebastian growled at Kurt. 

"Yes, but, first off, they are well defined, thank you very much, and second, I don't see you struggling right now to get up and go, so start speaking, oh wise one!" Kurt mocked right back and put his chin in his hand, looking at Sebastian like a child would look at someone who was about to tell a fairy tale.

Sebastian let his head fall onto the back of the couch, and his hands rest on top of Kurt’s knees. He closed his eyes and started to talk. 

"I was a monster right after I had changed. I told you already how I wiped out my entire family and social circle. I went after the folks that wanted to see me burned at the stake, including the pastor of the village I grew up in. I grew up in 1765 in Montmartre, a small village just a few clicks away from Paris. Don't look at me like that, I told you when we met that I went to school in Paris, I was just lying about the time frame a bit. I was different, and the fact that I had slept with the pastor’s son didn't go over well for either of us. My fever started the night he and I had run away from the villagers hunting us down. I fell into my fever dream, and they beat on my lifeless body and left me for dead, figuring I was gonna die of either the injuries or the fever. They murdered Pascal right next to me. His mangled body was the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious, and the hate and anger inside of me made me fall into the dark shadow’s arms, welcoming him and his ways like a good old friend. After I woke up, I buried the love of my life right where he had died, and then went on my famous killing spree. I didn't spare anyone, not my family, not his, nobody. I felt betrayed by everyone that knew us. It wasn't until the beginning of the 1800's that I realized what I did. I had just finished dinner - hunting down immigrants at night to feast on was one of my favorite hobbies - when I found a couple. Two women, crying for their life, begging for forgiveness. They were lovers and tried to out do each other in protecting the other. I left them alive in the dark ally I had dragged them into. They were so grateful, hugging each other and thanking me for sparing their lives, it was disgusting. I turned around and walked off. 

"I didn't stop walking, and eventually ended up in the woods all by myself. I found a cave and hid in it, waiting for death to eventually come and get me, but it never did. My hunger was driving me mad and, after a few weeks of hiding away, I started catching the rodents that were always running around me. They had lost their natural fear of me after a few days of me not attacking them. So I started catching them. My first one was a weasel, and it was the best thing I had tasted back then. After eating nothing, the warm blood gave me strength again. I went out hunting deer, rabbits, and I once caught a mountain lion. "

"I eventually realized that I didn't have to kill humans to survive, and that the dark shadow had been lying to me, using my pain against me, saying exactly what I needed to hear in order to follow him. I just stopped. I stopped hunting humans. I stayed away from humanity for as long as I could and I only hunted animals. It was that loneliness that taught me the most about my mental abilities, and, soon after, I heard the first cry for help from somebody dying and not knowing what was going to happen. It was a young woman in Paris, lying in her bed, running the fever and slowly descending into the dream world. I held her hand and talked to her, trying to keep her calm. It happened without me actually trying. All of a sudden, I was with her in the forest. She was so scared and I felt so sorry for her, knowing what was going to happen to her. So I told her my story in the short time we had, and I tried to help her as much as I could. She was the first one that ever followed me, and the two creatures have been after me ever since. I don't know what is going to happen if they ever catch me, but I'd rather not find out. The woman came with me after she woke up, and we shared my cave for the longest time. We got onto the Titanic together to come to America, hiding in the bottom of the ship since we didn't have tickets. Our speed helped us avoid the guards, and if somebody saw us, I was able to manipulate their mind into forgetting us. We fed on the rats we came across, and I’m pretty sure we helped to keep the diseases in the poor people quarters to a minimum. I don't know if she ever made it to the States. We lost sight of each other when the ship went down. I swam for days, and once I couldn't swim anymore I walked on the bottom of the ocean. I fed on fish, and I was sure I wasn't going to make it out of the water ever again. 

"But sooner or later, I did make it to land. And low and behold, it was America. I was there, watching this country grow, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I heard more and more calls for help, and soon I had become the Mentor and my name disappeared in history. I became a legend within the vampire community, and I helped build the system we have going on now."

The whole time he was talking, Sebastian had kept his eyes closed and now that he was done he let his head roll to the side, facing Kurt and looking at him, waiting for an answer from him.

Kurt was stunned. It all seemed so unreal to him, he was at a loss of words. Silently, he lifted his legs off of Sebastian’s lap, sat up and offered him the now cold last sip of Blaine’s blood out of his glass. He was so focused on the history behind the Mentor, that he had forgotten to refill their glasses with David’s like he had meant to. Sebastian looked confused, and Kurt simply said, "You deserve this, take it before I change my mind."

*

Kurt called in sick the next morning. Although he didn't really get sick, he told them he was. He had important business to attend to, and simply didn't want to be around others for the day. He called in his new blood order, and made a point of making sure that they did understand that he didn't want to see any one of the bags he used to order ever again. After he had done that, he checked the weather for the day. Thankfully it was going to be a cloudy and rainy day, so he didn't have to worry about the sun.

He stared at the piece of paper left by his Mentor before he left the night before, telling him the exact addresses of Santana, Blaine, and David. Santana and David were living in the same general area, and he might be able to go and look after the both of them tonight. Blaine, on the other hand, was living in one of the worse parts of the city. 

 

*

 

It worried Kurt, knowing that David seemed to have such a hard time in New York, so he set out to go and look for him first.

With his speed, it only took him a few minutes to get to the neighborhood David lived in. The neighborhood looked very rough, and Kurt would have feared for his safety if it weren't broad daylight or he didn’t have his powers. Knowing he could defeat anyone who would come at him made him feel safer.

After he had found the right house number, he went around the back and started to climb up the fire escape as silently as possible. David lived on the 7th floor and it took Kurt a few seconds to get there. He looked inside what he figured was David’s bedroom. David appeared to be sleeping, and not alone. He was wrapped around another young man, and the open closet revealed two sets of clothing in different styles, so Kurt figured they were living together. He silently crept inside and took a look around. Thankfully, the bedroom door was open and he could leave the two men sleeping. He carefully checked out the rest of the place, and found it to be a clean and a warm home, made to fit the two men’s lives perfectly. In the kitchen, he found the fridge and took a look inside. The top two shelves were stocked with what one would expect to find in a fridge, but the bottom two were stocked with blood bags not unlike the ones in Kurt’s own fridge at home.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder and Kurt was about to yell when another hand covered his mouth. He turned around and found the man he’d seen sleeping in bed earlier, fangs extended and with a dangerous look on his face. "What are you doing here?" the man demanded to know. 

"I was worried about David," Kurt answered. "We went to high school together, and the Mentor told me last night that the blood bags with the alcohol in them always came from David. I just wanted to make sure he is doing OK." 

Panic had set in Kurt’s body, and he was ready to run. He didn't want to fight the man, and he didn't want to wake up David. He didn't want David to find out that he, too, was a vampire.

"David is fine. He knows what I am, and he didn't run. He drinks on purpose before he donates, to make it a bit more fun for others. But he doesn't have a problem. He ran away from his high school experience and came here. I found him in the gutter, ready to be dinner for a predator, when I stepped in and defended him. He didn't run when he saw me or my teeth, and he was very open about all of this. He doesn't ask too many questions, and we’re happy." The man had let go of Kurt and was slowly pushing him towards the door. "Please, leave. David will freak out if he finds out somebody has found out he is dating a vampire, and I’m not sure if you want it to be found out that you were creeping around here."

Kurt nodded and grabbed the man’s hands. "Thank you for taking care of him. He had a rough few years. You won’t see me again." With that, Kurt was gone through the door, and in a split second at the end of the block. He had a smile on his face, knowing David had found happiness after all, and the thought of a relationship between a human and a vampire was nice, too. Tragically romantic, maybe, but Kurt would always be a romantic, no matter what.

*

His next stop was Santana. As it turned out, she was living just a few blocks away from David. Kurt wondered if they sometimes ran into each other and, if they did, if they talked. Maybe they even had dinner together? The neighborhood she lived in looked a lot nicer, even though it wasn't really that far. That was New York for you. 

Santana was renting a little studio apartment, and, from the looks of it, she was living alone. Everything was dark inside where he looked through the window, but he was able to make out a comfortable looking couch and a nice sized TV. The walls were bare, showing off the brick they where made of, and Santana's taste seemed to have developed in what Kurt considered to be the right direction. She had made the apartment look quite nice. 

Kurt was still distracted with the decor of her living area as the door opened, and the woman came home. She was dressed in a cute red uniform, looking like she was working as a waitress of some sorts. Kurt wasn't sure but he could have sworn that he'd eaten at a diner once, before he changed, where the staff dressed like that. He remembered that they were required to sing at least once during their shift. Kurt decided that she seemed to be doing good and jumped from the edge of bricks he was standing on back into the ally, disappearing into the thousands of people flooding the streets despite the dark and grey weather.

He figured it was time to head home and start planning how to go about Blaine, still unsure whether he wanted to see him or not. Who was he kidding, he told himself. He was definitely going to see him and check up on him, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to him or not. OK yes, if he was honest, he was sure he wanted to talk to him, but he still had to make up his mind if he was going to talk now or not. On one side, it killed him knowing how close Blaine was, and the thought of not seeing him or speaking to him seemed crazy, but on the other, he wasn't sure what to tell him. "Hi, Blaine, sorry I stopped talking to you, but you need to know that I died and came back to life as a vampire due to a genetic mutation of the disease xeroderma pigmentosum, which usually only affects children and causes them extreme pain and cancerous growths across their skin causing them to be expected to live no longer then 30." Kurt shook his head. This wasn't going to go over well unless he planned it out and made up his mind before he went to see him.

Back at his house, Kurt went back to Facebook. Looking at the picture of Blaine, he just drifted off. Kurt wasn't sure what happened, but he found himself in a state of trance as he focused on Blaine. Suddenly, he could see the girl, Leah, who had tagged Blaine in his picture. She was talking in his direction, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. There were too many pictures flowing around in his head at the moment, almost as if he were going through somebody else's memories. Kurt was pretty sure, if he concentrated hard enough, he could dig deeper and find out where he was, or, actually, in who he was. He tried to concentrate but the body he had zoomed into walked past a mirror, and Kurt saw Blaine's reflection staring back at him. He felt a strong pull and was back in his living room, on his couch. Sebastian must have let him self in while he was gone, since he was standing right next to Kurt and looked interested in what had just happened.

"Hey, sweet cheeks, where did you go?" he asked with honest curiosity. 

"I.. I'm not sure, but I think I was in Blaine's head? Sort of in a very creepy, kinda scary way? Can we do that? Like, what's going on? Do we take over people and make them do stuff, or do we just hang out and what, look at their memories?"

"Well, look at you, developing new powers," the Mentor purred. "I honestly have no idea what you could do. Maybe all you have to do is try focusing on somebody and then see where you can go with it? I've never heard of someone that could manipulate another human like you might be able to. All I can do is plant thoughts, but I don't actually get into their bodies and see what they're thinking. You should practice that, though. Who knows when you could use that to safe your own ass someday." 

That was all Sebastian had to say about Kurt's new ability. He sat down on the love seat next to the couch Kurt was on and placed Kurt's high school yearbook on the table.

"Oh God, where did you get that from and why?" Kurt groaned when he saw it. Sebastian lent forward and and tapped his fingers on the hard cover. 

"You see, honey, I did some research myself on your anonymous letter person. I think I found something that would be interesting for the both of us."

Kurt tucked his leg under himself and turned towards his friend. "Go on, you got my interest," he said, and waved his hand.

With a self-satisfied smile on his face, the blond leaned back and started explaining. "I figured for someone to follow you so closely for such a long time, they had to know you, or know the fact that your mom had the gene. They'd have to be close to you in order to know that you were still human and hadn't changed yet. I thought to myself, 'if I were to stay that close to a human, I would try and get into his social circle, try to be a part of his day to day life somehow.' That's what I was trying to do when I joined the Warblers. Public school wasn't for me, and I always liked to attitude of private schools. Plus, there are many of us working as teachers in these schools, making sure parents know where to send their kids, just in case they might start the fever while at school. So anyway, I went to Dalton to talk to some of the teachers there that I met in my brief time as a student there. I asked them if they knew anything, or if they could help me track that person down." 

Sebastian took a dramatic pause and raised one eyebrow, looking at Kurt before he continued, "Turns out, they had heard of someone doing just that every now and then. A very empathic vampire with a strong connection to humans, who was able to tell if the human she was talking to carried the gene or not. So this one vamp set out to help the ones stuck in the public school system, or stuck without another vampire to help them through it. I found that vampire at McKinley."

"What?" Kurt interrupted, "I had a vampire in school with me and never knew? Who was it?"

Sebastian's face turned serious, a bit melancholic. "I met her as Emmanuela back in Paris. You remember our girl-talk, I told you about my past? Well, the first vampire call for help I had heard was this woman that I thought I had lost when the Titanic went down, right?"

Kurt had scooted up to the edge of his seat, feet both now planted right in front of him, and he was staring at Sebastian, waiting for him to continue. He nodded his head at the question.

"Yeah, so what? You found her?"

"Yes, I found her, at McKinley. She now lives under the name Emma, Emma Pillsbury, if I remember correctly, and she was what, school counselor? That was ingenious."

Kurt was shaking with laughter as Sebastian told him all about his findings. "This explains so much of the weird stuff she always pulled," he wheezed out between giggles. "Are you going to look for her or talk to her?" he asked after he had calmed down a bit.

Sebastian declined with a shake of his head. "I don't want to mess up the life she has built for herself over time. But I do admit, it is nice knowing she made it and is still kicking."

Both men stayed quiet for a while, staring at the black TV screen, lost in their own thoughts.

"What are you going to do about Blaine?" Sebastian broke the silence. 

"Frankly, I'm not sure. I really want to see him, and after seeing David and his vamp of a boyfriend, pun intended, I'm left wondering, you know, if it could work or not?"

"Wait, you went to see David?" the blond asked. "He's fucking a vampire? Kinky!"

"Yeah, I saw him. Well, I thought I was going to be stealthy and check out his place. Too bad I went in through the bedroom window while they where both sleeping. I made it all the way to the kitchen and saw the blood in the fridge. That's when David's boyfriend got me. I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to murder them, or at least try to. They're doing good! David drinks on purpose right before he donates to add a little fun to the selection. But-" Kurt changed the topic, "-what am I going to do now? Should I go and see Blaine, and try to explain whats going on?"

Sebastian was hesitant with his answer. "I'm not sure if it is such a good idea. You won't die of natural causes and you won't age. Your body will eventually decay, and you will need to find a new one to take over. I wasn't always this good looking stud that you see today."

That bit of information was new to Kurt and stopped him short in his thoughts. If his body was going to die eventually, he was wondered what that would mean for him? 

"So, there is a soul after all? We are going to get sorted into heaven or hell?" he asked.

Sebastian looked at him. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. If you can't find a new body when your old one is dying, you sort of stay in your body while it slowly turns into dirt. I don't think any of us are going to turn into pretty little angels or anything like that. I never really thought much about it, though. These conversations are usually best held while either stoned or with someone that has at least some form of belief. But you have about a hundred years, give or take a few. Worry about that when you have to." 

With that said, Sebastian got up from the love seat and walked to the window facing the street. He just looked outside, lost in his own world, and Kurt couldn't help but think that he may have just opened up old wounds or touched a difficult topic. 

"I'm going back to work tomorrow," he said. "And I'm going to ask you to go home now, since I still have to write up my bullshit horoscopes and mail them in." Kurt had gotten up, and finished his sentence while standing right next to his Mentor. 

Out of the blue, startling Kurt out of the silence, the Mentor said, "I am being called, I've got to go. I'll see you when I can." 

With that, he was gone, leaving the door open on his way out.

Kurt went to close it, and took a last look at the street he was living on. He liked his neighborhood. The house that had been for sale ever since he had moved in now had a sold sign nailed to the post advertising it, and Kurt couldn't help but wonder who would move in across from him. 

All he could hope for was that they would leave him alone, just like the rest of the people on this street did. 

*

Kurt was anxious to go back to work. He was hoping he could try to maybe sneak a look at Blaine when he came in the next time to donate, but several weeks went by and he never showed, or at least never during Kurt’s shift. Kurt was disappointed, but decided it was maybe for the better. He wasn't sure how he would have reacted to seeing him again, whether he would hide in panic or if he would jump out and, in the process, probably give Blaine the scare of his life.

Kurt did keep a close eye on Facebook, though, on Blaine’s page as well as that girl, Leah's, but nothing had been posted since the photo at NYADA. Finally, he gave up and decided to call Jamie to hang out, hoping that perhaps making a friend would keep him busy enough to stop him missing Blaine.

Distracted by his work and the outings with his new friend once a week, he stopped pay attention to how the time flew by. Before he knew it, summer had turned into fall, and suddenly the first snow was falling, marking the beginning of winter. Kurt never saw Blaine again at the blood bank, and there was deadly silence on the social network sites he used to frequent almost religiously. Whoever said people spent too much time online clearly had never met his ex-boyfriend.

Kurt was out running errands, trying to find plumbing tools since his kitchen sink was leaking and the shower had started to sing every time he tried to turn it on. He was so focused on his task that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking and promptly ran into somebody else. 

"Oh my god, I am so..." he started to apologize, but the words died in his throat. He had run right into Blaine. After all the weeks and months of not thinking about him, or avoiding him altogether, he had just found him in the plumbing section of a home depot.

"Kurt?" Blaine was staring at him as if he wasn't sure that Kurt was real.

"Hi," Kurt squeaked, and promptly realized he didn't know what else to say.

"Do you want to sit down? You’re awfully pale," Blaine said, concerned, and Kurt lost it. Out of everything he thought would happen if he saw his ex, and of all the scenarios he had made up in his mind, this was the last thing he expected. He started to tear up from laughing, and then his knees gave out. He knelt on the floor, laughing like a madman, unable to catch his (unnecessary) breath.

Blaine’s voice was getting more and more concerned, and he knelt down right next to Kurt. "Oh God, are you OK? Do you need help?" He took Kurt’s hand, trying to get his attention. "Man, your fingers are ice cold, are you sick?" Blaine’s questions were genuinely fed by concern, but it just made Kurt laugh even harder. This was the most ridiculous situation he could have found himself in, and he didn’t know how to get out of it.

Finally, after a few minutes of laughter that made his insides hurt, he was able to calm himself down. "I’m fine, Blaine, just shocked to run into you. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two men, and they didn't know where to look.  
In the end, it was Blaine who cleared his throat and asked Kurt if he could help him find what he was looking for. Between the two of them, Kurt’s planned four hour shopping trip took only half of that. The awkwardness lessened, and both soon started talking. They didn’t talk about anything major, just small talk, but both made sure to avoid the main topic between them.

Without Kurt noticing, Blaine had walked him home, and had carried half of his bags in the process. It wasn't until they were both stood in Kurt’s kitchen that the vampire noticed what had happened. Nervously, he looked around, hoping there was no evidence of his new lifestyle anywhere in sight.

Kurt panicked when Blaine walked towards the fridge, saying, "Do you have any water? I am so thirsty. I didn't realize that just shopping for a plumbing project could be so strenuous!" 

Within a split second, Kurt stood in front of it. "No! I mean, no. I’m sorry. I haven’t got water or anything in the fridge. It’s broken, and I haven't opened it since it broke. There’s probably all kinds of stuff growing in there right now. I can't let you look in there. I don't want anything to attack you. Who knows what life forms have developed in here. I swear I heard party music coming out of here just last night, so it’s probably hung over and we shouldn't disturb it." Kurt was rambling and he knew it, but if he had to choose between Blaine seeing the blood in his fridge and Blaine thinking he had lost his mind, the latter was his favorite choice.

Blaine cocked his head to the left and just looked at Kurt. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's OK. If you need help kicking out the monsters you’ve raised in there, let me know. After all, we seem to have become neighbors without knowing so." He pointed to the sold house on the other side of the road. 

Kurt just stared at him, wondering how he could possible get away with hiding his life from Blaine if he was living right across the street from him. He couldn't even call Sebastian and ask for advice. The Mentor had taken off after their last conversation and, aside from the random text message here and there, they hadn't talked. Sebastian was busy helping other vampires change .

With a heavy heart, he grasped Blaine’s shoulders, turned him around, and walked both of them into the living room . He pointed to the couch for Blaine to sit on, and planted himself on the love seat across from his ex. 

"I need to tell you something and I need you not to freak out," he said, and took a deep breath.

 

 

[EPILOGUE]  
5 years later

Kurt came home from work and found his friend Blaine sitting on his doorstep. "Jason broke up with me," he said. "He thinks I’m cheating on him with you." 

Tears were streaming down his face and a sob went through his body. Kurt bent down to hug him before dragging him inside. He sat him on the couch and went to the kitchen. He took a tub of ice cream out of the freezer, and scooped some into a bowl. Then, he took spoon from the drawer, and walked back into the living room and handed both to Blaine. Turning the TV to a suitably sappy love story he had saved, he sat behind Blaine and hugged him.

10 years later

Kurt and Blaine sat on top of Kurt’s roof, looking at the city lights. Kurt sucked blood out of a Batman drinking cup with a lid and straw, since Blaine never could quite stand the look of blood. Blaine drank a beer from the cooler he had brought. 

"You’re the best friend to celebrate my promotion with," Blaine said, and held his beer up for Kurt to tap with his cup.

20 years later

"I feel guilty that you’re still single," Kurt said, both of them sat on Blaine’s couch, watching a rerun of Friends on TV.

"I’m happy, though," Blaine answered.

43 years later

"I’ll miss you so much!" Kurt said, tears running down his face. Blaine smiled at him from his bed. Weakly, he grasped for Kurt’s hand and pulled him closer so he didn't have to speak so loud.

"I will always love you, no matter where I am." 

Then he closed his eyes for the last time, and Kurt could hear his heart stumble one last time before it stopped for good.


End file.
